Recently, on a recent IRL Facebook Live interview, Br. Didacus Gottsacker, fbp, of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, mentioned an apostolate that he is involved in—the Maria Kannon Mission of Japan.  Brother speaks Japanese and also studied there before becoming a Franciscan friar. (You can read vocation story and love for the Japanese people here)

Following the zealous example of St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Francis Xavier, who brought the Catholic Faith to Japan, the Maria Kannon Mission seeks to evangelize the Japanese people by first introducing them to Our Lady, the first missionary of Christ and the Mediatrix of All Graces through her Miraculous Medal, to win souls for Jesus Christ.

On a pilgrimage to Japan, the initiators of Maria Kannon began handing out Miraculous Medals to the Japanese people, whom, they realized, were eager to accept them. When they got home, they had the medals struck in Japanese and created printed materials to go along with them, so that the recipients would know the graces they could receive when the prayers were recited in faith.

The name Maria Kannon is derived from the time of the Great Persecution of Christians in Japan. Christians created statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary with child, disguised as the Buddhist deity Kannon (Goddess of Mercy).  Many statues had a Christian icon hidden inside the body or camouflaged in the artwork.

The fields are ripe for the harvest in Japan. Here is what it says on the Maria Kannon website:

Just as with the United States and the rest of the world, the Japanese people suffer from a great spiritual poverty, the greatest of all forms of poverty. While the Word of God suffers in developed countries in the West, it has virtually been stamped out in Japan, despite being a land that was once fertile and receptive to becoming overwhelmingly Catholic. With the decline of religions like Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan, people are searching for answers to the meaning of their lives…

Interestingly, one of the Miraculous Medal miraculous stories on the website involved Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, SJ, founder of the IRL. At the time of the story, he had no particular devotion to the Medal when called to the bedside of a boy in a coma, incurred from a sledding accident. Father placed the Medal around the boy’s neck and initiated him into the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal. All concerned were amazed and joy-filled to see the boy open his eyes and ask for ice cream!

“At times I have failed to place an image of Our Savior’s Mother beside His cross. At such times, I have always found the people rebellious to the Gospel.”                                       — St. Francis Xavier

The website has a beautiful description of the origins of the Miraculous Medal, including the most famous conversion story— that of Rev. Alphonse Ratisbonne,  a nominal Jew who scoffed at religion and subsequently became a Catholic priest.

If you would like to support Our Lady’s mission to Japan, please visit the Maria Kannon website.